I don’t want to ruin your day or anything, but here’s something terrifying you’ve probably never thought about: scientists barely know anything about the long-term effects of tampons on our health. Did you know that?I didn’t know that! You’re putting a foreign object inside yourself that was only sort of studied for safety risks, and I’m sorry to have told you…

Two science startup dudes introduced a new product idea this week: a probiotic supplement that will make women’s vaginas smell like peaches.

Austin Heinz and Gilad Gome, the founders of biotech startups Cambrian Genomics and Personalized Probiotics respectively, previewed their plans for a line of customer-specific probiotics, including the “Sweet Peach,” at the…

CVS and Walgreens are under fire for illegally charging 11,000 women a co-pay for their birth control prescriptions at their pharmacies. Under the Affordable Care Act, forms of preventative care — including generic contraception — does not require a co-pay. Thousands of women are now going to be reimbursed. [Salon, RH Reality Check]…

Chelsea Manning, the army private who was convicted of leaking documents to Wikileaks, is suing the federal government for medical treatment for gender dysphoria. Manning, who previously went by the name Bradley Manning, is serving time in a military prison, but has not had access to hormone therapy. (A request to be moved to…

This fascinating essay about a woman’s experience as an abortion doula is a must-read. [NYMag.com]
Today is the 51st anniversary of the Birmingham church bombing that killed four little girls. [AL.com]
Cover Girl appears to have moved their crossmarketing page for the Baltimore Ravens, who terminated their contract last week with Ray…

First, let me say that I’m a fan of Wendy Davis. I look forward to reading her recently debuted memoir, Forgetting to Be Afraid, and I admire her amazing energy, her dedication to public service, and her impeccable choice in footwear while filibustering for 11 hours in the Texas Senate last year. I’m way thrilled…

Planned Parenthood is now offering online services in Minnesota and Washington State, in which patients can receive STD counseling or get a prescription for birth control through a video portal or an app. Another service that will soon be available will be mail-order treatment kids for STDs. Take that, assholes closing reproductive health clinics!

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis had an abortion 17 years ago, she revealed in a memoir being published next week. In her book Forgetting To Be Afraid, Davis shares that in 1997, she and her husband terminated a second-trimester pregnancy after they learned the fetus, a daughter, had serious brain abnormalities.

A federal judge allowed a new abortion law to go into effect in Louisiana, which requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles away, but ruled that doctors and clinics cannot be penalized for breaking the law while it is being debated. Abortion rights supporter…

I’ve been having pregnancy scares since before I even started having sex. This is either a reflection of the quality of sex education in California during the early-‘90s or a sign that I’m just deeply paranoid. Luckily, I’ve never actually been pregnant … just further convinced that sometimes the body likes to play mind games.

What does a woman’s past sexual experience have to do with her teaching skills? Just about everything! That’s why the education department in Sao Paolo, Brazil gets all up in the ladybusiness of potential female employees. According to women’s rights activists in Brazil, as cited by The Washington Post, women are required to prove their…

I had my first yeast infection at the age of 17. I’d been to a summer music festival in my kicky “boho” jeans and home-made Beastie Boys tank, sweat a lot in the pit, and awoke the next morning to find a discharge the consistency of cottage cheese tumbling from within my vagina.
My…

Meet Dr. Willie Parker, a Christian and one of the two providers who travels to Mississippi’s only abortion clinic to terminate unwanted pregnancies. He is, without a doubt, an inspiration and a hero. [Esquire]
Basement trolls got very upset when a critic for the Village Voice gave “Guardians Of the Galaxy” a bad…

A Florida mother gave birth to her fourth baby this past Friday amidst a hell of a controversy. Jennifer Goodall, who has had three previous C-sections, had been hoping to attempt a vaginal birth with her fourth delivery. However, her providers at Bayfront Health Port Charlotte were not on board with her wishes and went…

I stopped taking birth control in 2011. I find it not-ha-ha-funny that when I tell people this, the most common reaction I get is that it’s “dangerous” not taking birth control — and yet, so many people are willing to look the other way or not get angry when the highest court in our country…

Public Service Announcement time: always remove your sex toy fromyour pussy. A woman in Scotland complaining of weight loss and incontinence had an icky surprise waiting for her at the doctor’s office: a sex toy abandoned in her vagina. As reported by The Journal Of Sexual Medicine, the sex toy (which was described a…

Leolah Brown, sister to Bobby Brown and aunt to Bobbi Kristina was kicked out of her niece’s funeral yesterday after verbally lashing at Pat Houston Bobbi Kristina’s former manager as well as sister-in-law to Bobbi Kristina’s mother Whitney Houston. Phew. That was a mouthful.